Antenna



June 2, 1942. s. W-AILSON, JR,

ANTENNA Filed Jan. 4, 1 94O 160 770797770 7'0 HIV/FED P0157770 3nnentor Samuel 11. VVatson, Jr:

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Patented June 2, 1 942 H ANTENNA Samuel H. Watson, Jr., Audubon, J., assignor to Radio Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application January 4, 1940, Serial No. 312,325 8 Claims. (01. 25043) This invention relates to antennas, and particularly to a retractible antenna for use on automobiles, airplanes and the like.

I am aware of a great many automobile an tennas which may be retracted or folded when not in use. For example, telescoping antennas of the fish-pole type are in common use. The purpose of all such arrangements is to protect the.

antenna from damage due to excessive whipping when the vehicle is traveling at high speeds or when the antenna is not in use.

All of the known retractible antennas are subject either to the disadvantage that they can-- not be retracted from within the car, that their operating mechanism is'too complicated and ex-- pensive to make them commerci-ally useful, or that they are not parallel to the direction of the air flow when retracted.

It is the primary purpose of this invention to provide an antenna for moving vehicles which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior arrangements in that the antenna may be folded down close to the surface of thevehicle parallel to the air flow bymeans ofan extremely simple mechanism within the vehicle itself. Thus the antenna may beplaced in its extended operating position or in its retracted position by merely turning a conveniently located knob, and yet no complicated control mechanism is required. This is accomplished by mounting rotatably a selfsupporting antenna in an insulating socket which extends through the roof of the vehicle and is at an angle thereto, and bending the con-'- ductor through an angle less than 90 so that in one position it lies substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis and the roof of the vehicle, and when rotated 180 assumes a maximum signal collecting position approaching the perpendicular.

This invention will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection Withthe accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of this invention.

Referring to the drawing, reference numeral l represents the outer roof of an automobile, airplane, I or other vehicle. A sleeve bearing or socket 3 ismounted in an insulating bushing 5 which is'firmly fitted into an Opening inthe vehicle roof so as to make a water-tight joint. The

bearing or socket 3 extends through the roof and its axis is inclined upwards and to the rear.

The antenna itself is a rigid self-supporting conductor bent so that the sections 1 and 9 are disposed at" an obtuse angle. The lower and shorter section I is pinned or sweated into a hearing sleeve I l, the outer end of which carries a flange. I3, and the inner end of which isgrooved.

The bearing sleeve II fits snugly into the socket 3, and is held in place by a lock ring l5 which is inserted into the groove inthe bearing sleeve.

This permits the antenna to rotate freely about the axis of the socket while holding it firmly in place.

The inner end of the bearing sleeve H is connected in any suitable fashion to a flexible shaft I] which extends to a control knob l 9, located in any convenient position within the vehicle. For example, the control knob l9 may be mounted so as to protrude through the, inner roof, indicated by reference numeral 2|, but'it is to be understood that the control may be mounted on the dashboard.

In order to indicate the position of the antenna to a person within the vehicle, the control knob is equipped with suitable indexing means. Preferably, the control mechanism also includes means for holding the antenna in its raised or lowered position. Various types of spring actuated mechanisms for accomplishing this are known, but a preferred embodiment is illustrated. The flexible shaft I1 is connected to a coupling shaft 23 by means of a set screw 25, the other end of One 7 the coupling shaft carrying the knob [9. end of a helical spring 21 abuts against a shoulder on the inner end of the shaft 23 and its other end abuts againstan indexing member 29 which is mounted on the shaft 23 so that it rotates therewith, but is free to move longitudinally with or against the pressure of the spring 21. The surface of the indexing member away from the spring is raised along one diameter and or upper section or signal collector 9 ofthe anrotated 180 the antenna assumes an extended position which approaches the vertical. The actual angle between the roof and the extended antenna is preferably less than 90 so that the slope of the antenna harmonizes with the lines of the car. In other words, the signal collector member of the antenna is, in this position, erected to a maximum effective position remote from the roof surface and preferably inclined rearwardly of the perpendicular with respect to the normal direction of vehicle travel or longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

The radio is connected to the antenna in any suitable manner, preferably by means of soldered pig-tail or flexible lead which can be rotated with the antenna. In such a case, it is preferable to provide stops which prevent the continuous rotation of the antenna. Actually, it is only necessary to rotate it through 180.

In order to prevent undue attenuation of signal voltages, the capacity between the antenna and the car body must be minimized. The flexible drive shaft [1 and the knob mechanism should, therefore, be insulated from the antenna itself. This is readily accomplished by making the bearing sleeve ll of insulating material, or by inserting an insulating bushing between the bearing sleeve and the flexible shaft. In the latter case, the lead-in pig-tail would be soldered to vehicle for rotating said conductor between a minimum retracted position closely adjacent a surface of said vehicle and a maximum extended position remote from said surface and inclined rearwardly of the perpendicular with respect to the normal-forward direction of vehicle travel. I I I 2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein means are provided for retaining said conductor in either of said positions. a 3. A retractable antenna for mounting on the roof of a vehicle comprising a substantially rigid signal collector member and a support shaft carried thereby and disposed at an obtuse angle relative thereto, structure for rotatably mounting said shaft'on said vehicle with its axis at an obtuse angle relative to the surface of said'roof and supporting said collector member in its retracted position substantially in its entirety parallel to said roof and to the flow of air over said roof, and control means within said vehicle for rotating said shaft thru 180 degrees for erecting said collector member into effective signal collecting position away from said roof at an angle aproaching the perpendicular with respect to the normal forward direction of vehicle travel.

4. A retractable antenna for mounting on a vehicle comprising a single self-supporting conductor bent to form two sections'disposed at an obtuse angle, a socket insulatingly mounted on and extending through the roof of said vehicle, and adapted to receive one section of said conductor, said conductor being rotatable in said socket about an axis which makes such an angle with said surface that the other section of said conductor extends backwardly along the roof of said vehicle and is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said vehicle in one position, and assumes an angle approaching the perpendicular with respect to said roof when rotated means located within said vehicle for rotating said conductor to selected positions, and means for retaining said conductor in said selected positions.

5. A retractable antenna for mounting on a vehicle comprising a single self-supporting conductor having upper and lower sections disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to each other, a socket insulatingly mounted on the roof of said vehicle, the lower end of said conductor being rotatably mounted in said socket, a control knob mounted within said vehicle, and a flexible shaft connected between said conductor and said knob, whereby said antenna may be rotated in said socket by said control knob from a retracted position substantially parallel to said roof to an operating position extending outwardly from said roof.

6. A retractable antenna for mounting on the roof of a vehicle comprising a self-supporting single conductor having two linear sections disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to each other, a socket insulatingly mounted on the surface of said vehicle, one end of said conductor being rotatably mounted in said socket, a control knob for rotating said antenna between a retracted position extending rearwardly along said roof and an operating position extending upwardly from said roof, said knob having indexing means for frictionally retaining said antenna in a desired one of said positions, and means operatively coupling said antenna to said control knob.

7. A retractable antenna for mounting on a vehicle comprising a self-supporting conductor having two sections disposed at an obtuse angle, a socket insulatingly mounted on and extending through the surface of said vehicle, and adapted to receive one section of said conductor, said conductor being rotatable in said socket about an axis which makes such an angle with said surface that the other section of said conductor is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said vehicle and said surface in one position, and assumes an angle approaching the perpendicular when rotated 180, a control knob mounted within said vehicle, and a flexible shaft coupling said conductor and said knob, said knob having indexing means for retaining said antenna in said one position and in a position 180 from said position.

8. A retractable antenna for mounting on the roof of a vehicle comprising a self-supporting rod bent to form upper and lower sections at an obtuse angle with respect to each other, a socket insulatingly mounted on the roof of said vehicle, the lower end of said antenna being rotatably mounted in said socket and extending through said roof, the axis of rotation making such an angle with respect to said roof that inits retracted position the upper section of said antenna extends rearwardly along and substantially parallel to said roof, and a control knob for rotating said antenna through 180 to place it in an operating position approaching the perpendicular with respect to said roof.

SAMUEL H. WATSON, JR. 

